Comments (10)

“Imagine an oncologist talking to his patient: Everything is going well with your treatment, he says, but one of the drugs you’ve been receiving is unavailable. There’s a substitute—sort of. Your Medicare copayment for the drug we’ve been using is $9. Now it will cost you $520 each time the substitute is given.”

“Developing America’s domestic resources means every other industry in the economy can take advantage of lower energy prices and become more globally competitive.”
We need to stay on top of our own energy needs to say competitive.

“…meeting today’s challenges will demand a similar dedication to cooperation—and not just between political parties. A spirit of compromise and reconciliation would do wonders for the economy if government and business resolved together…”

This is key! But I don’t think political representatives really understand the importance of compromising and working “together.” As leaders, they should set examples for others to follow, yet our current leaders seem to believe proving the other party wrong is more important than actually coming to an agreement and move forward.

It’s a shame that those sensible reforms aren’t going to happen anytime soon. Our government is far too polarized and many of its members believe that businesses are the cause of most social ills in America.

There were more than 250 generic drug shortages in 2011 compared with 58 in 2004, thanks largely to the Medicare Modernization Act.

The MMA changed the way many of these physician-administered drugs are reimbursed. The problem is especially dire because of the nature of these drugs. Generic Injectable drugs are, by definition, older drugs. Thus, the production facilities may be quite old. Over the years, wear and tear on the machinery and increase the variation in the production process, introducing foreign particulate matter and causing metal shavings to become suspended in solution. The profitability of generic injectable drugs is so low that that there is little incentive for companies to modernize facilities.

Why we don’t have a flat tax: current total tax expenditures in the United States hover around $1 trillion, with over 80 percent accruing to individuals and the remainder to corporations.

State and local taxes comprise one of the largest individual tax expenditures, they correspond to that 80% group, yet they seem to be going nowhere. Individual’s income is only going to continue to decrease and people won’t even be able to afford to pay federal taxes.

“Sensible immigration reform is also a high priority. Washington needs to make it easier for talented people to live and work in the U.S. Foreign students who graduate from American universities should be eligible to work in the U.S. permanently. The cap on visas for skilled workers should be removed”

This should be done within the year, accompanied by other immigration reforms.

as far as the drug shortage goes: many of the regulations have also limited the amount of drug manufacturers. therefore, if one company does not supply enough drugs, there is not another manufacturer to step in